A Loss of Gametocytes in Plasmodium elongatum

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Abstract
The 5E strain of P. elongatum was inoculated into the duck from the canary. After 10 intraven. subinoculations at weekly intervals, 2 substrains derived from the original one were maintained separately in the duck and in the canary. After the first 15 transfers of P. elongatum through the duck, substrain 1 became gametocyteless and no sexual forms were observed in 34 subsequent subinoculations. Substrain 2, originating with a duck, lost its gametocytes after 4 passages through the canary, and they have not reappeared in 10 additional subinoculations. Substrain 1 is compared with substrain 3 (Wolfson, 1946), which continued to produce large numbers of gametocytes in ducks. Segmenting forms of substrain 1 reached a peak of approx. 80% in the peripheral blood of the duck. The strain with gametocytes, in the duck, was observed to be somewhat more lethal than a gametocyteless strain. Inoculation of a gametocyteless strain into the English sparrow did not cause any change in the strain.